My friend who was buying records starting in the early 80's, through the sale (some) of his early hardcore and metal, funded 85% of a down payment on a decently sized house (pennies on the dollar). Pretty cool as it was stuff he was not obviously really attached to...and that wasn't even the best stuff in his collection.

Speaking of artificially rare items, what black metal release limited box set was it that included an ejaculated-on t shirt? How much are those going for?

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rthdx wrote:

After such a loud shitting in own pants it would be wise to disappear forever.

Very interesting article. My Dad actually got caught up in baseball card fever in the late 80s/early 90s and now has an entire closet full of the fucking things. He absolutely expected them to net a fortune one day. Poor bastard.

This article also makes me feel like a crazy person because I happen to, you know...buy records and listen to them._________________

Good article. I get the feeling that the increased interest in vinyl is just a fad that will die down w/ time, just like the whole hipster black metal thing and whatnot. There's always going to be a core group of people who are actually interested/dedicated and then there's always going to be a much larger group of sycophants jumping from one trend to the other. The larger groups comes w/ the collector mentality but not the passion of the smaller group, collections drive the market, passion creates the music. It's not too hard to see which is which and in 10 years the "vinyl scene" will have an entirely different dynamic as I'm sure black metal's "fan-base" will as well.

I fully endorse this philosophy. I am all for simple, economical, sub $20 releases. (Fuck you Rise Above Records!)

For me though, my compulsive vinyl buying is less motivated by the potential value of the release. I am more trying to capitalize on an easy, inexpensive opportunity to get the record and avoiding a future hunt/paying some stupid price down the road.

Records are artifacts, time lines in history and the best presentation of music visually. Its crazy to me that popular music has embraced the format again. I know sony kept the plants going even thru the cd explosion, and now with the advent of apple technology and file sharing, cd's are useless to most people with I phones. Im fine with vinyl, cd's and tapes. I think that major labels are riding this wave out as long as they can...stuff like lady gaga keeps the merchandise / dj wheel rolling along for big $$$$.

I was at ameoba a while back and saw that there was a vinyl edition of a margaret cho lp and I wondered what label exec actually decided to pursue the market for stand up comedy vinyl in 2013. That is definitely "vinyl bubble" mentality._________________www.birdofillomen.com

Great article. I was just chatting with a used records store owner and he was saying that in 5 years it's entirely possible this trend will fade and all the people who dumped their CDs in exchange for the LP reissue will be filled with regret..... you never know what's going to happen!_________________Cyclopean Wall // kosmiche ambient drone

I wonder how many people really plan on buying records and flipping them for enough to buy a house or something. It seems virtually impossible to plan something like that. A few people will get lucky and realize they have really valuable collections at the right time, but if you look at ebay and say "oh shit, records are super valuable" and then spend years hoarding limited releases you are bound to fail horribly.

I wasn't even really aware that there was a 'vinyl bubble' until a few years ago. Is vinyl seeing a resurgence in the mainstream, or something? It seems to me that people in the metal/punk/hardcore/crust/etc subcultures have been consistently collecting (and even listening to) vinyl for decades. While I grew up on CDs and tapes, I knew plenty of people who were vinyl elitists. I'm pretty sure that when this bubble bursts, these same people are going to continue to buy (and listen to) records. It seems to me that vinyl will endure as a tiny niche thing, mostly produced by and for the members of alternative music subcultures.

The prime example of the record bubble is record store day- utterly worthless pressings on coloured vinyl of lps which are readily available for hardly anything second hand, and are worth less than the price paid by the time the buyer gets home.